Green-Synthesized Silver Nanoparticles: Antifungal and Cytotoxic Potential for Further Dental Applications

• Published in: Journal of functional biomaterials Vol. 14; no. 7; p. 379
• Main Authors: Klein, Widadh, Ismail, Enas, Maboza, Ernest, Hussein, Ahmed A, Adam, Razia Z
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 01-07-2023; MDPI
• Subjects: Antifungal activity; Antifungal agents; Berzelia lanuginose; Buccal mucosa; Candida albicans; Computer software industry; Cytotoxicity; Dental materials; Dental research; Drug resistance; Fibroblasts; Fungi; Fungicides; Global health; green synthesis; Health risks; Helichrysum cymosum; Minimum inhibitory concentration; Nanoparticles; Plant extracts; Public health; Searsia crenata; Silver; silver nanoparticles; Software; Surface plasmon resonance; Synthesis; Toxicity; United States; South Africa; Germany; United Kingdom > UK; United States > US; Cape Town South Africa; Candida albicans; Helichrysum cymosum; antifungal; silver nanoparticles; Searsia crenata; Berzelia lanuginose; green synthesis; cytotoxicity
• ISSN: 2079-4983; 2079-4983
• DOI: 10.3390/jfb14070379

Fungal infections caused by
(
) are one of the most prevalent types of oral disorders in the elderly. It has been reported that drug resistance to fungal pathogens poses a severe risk to global healthcare systems and public health. Therefore, the goal of this work is to investigate the cytotoxic and antifungal properties of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) produced using three different natural extracts:
,
, and
. According to the UV-Vis results, the synthesized AgNPs via
,
, and
show surface plasmonic resonance (SPR) peaks at 430, 440, and 428 nm, respectively. HR-TEM revealed different shapes for the nanoparticles within the size ranges of 16-20, 31-60, and 57-72 nm for
,
, and
, respectively. Using a human oral fibroblast cell line, the cytotoxicity of both AgNPs and plant extracts was tested at concentrations of 0.007, 0.012, 0.025, and 0.062 mg/mL (buccal mucosa fibroblasts). The antifungal activity showed growth inhibition zones of approximately 18 mm, 18.67 mm, and 18.33 mm for the AgNPs conjugated with
,
, and
respectively. For the studied samples, the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC
) was less than 0.015 mg/mL. The AgNPs exhibited antifungal activity that was concentration- and size-dependent. The results of this study offer new insights into the cytotoxicity and antifungal activity of the green-synthesized AgNPs.